Armchair Racer in Sydney, Australia | Hobby shop

Armchair Racer

Locality: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 2 9906 5566

Address: 7/19 Hotham Parade 2064 Sydney, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.armchairracer.com.au

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25.01.2022 This weeks SHOW AND TELL is an interesting take on how John Bacon changed racing in Australia. Over to you Forrest... Slot Cars Story 13 - by Vintage Racer. John Bacon 111 - The Odyssey....Continue reading

24.01.2022 We hope you don't mind but for this weeks SHOW AND TELL we are being a little self indulgent. One of our customers let us know he used "us" as signage on his raceway and we were honoured to be part of his track scenery. So we asked him a little more about his track: Track Name: Shenanigans Raceway (mischievousness or high-spirited behaviour / secret manoeuvring)... Track Type: 4 Lane CNC'd modular track Timing system: TrackMate and Race Co-Ordinator timing system Location: Mid North Coast, NSW See more

24.01.2022 Two small ones for this weeks SHOW AND TELL. The first one comes from Australia: Here is link to a YouTube clip my son made of our Scalextric track. The track layout is loosely based on the Monaco circuit.... LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0osR94E9WM (Armchair comment - we really had to laugh at the last 10 seconds of the video) The second comes from club in Spain who only make rally tracks. We think this track would be interesting to run on.

23.01.2022 This week SHOW AND TELL continues the story on John Bacon by Vintage Racer. John Bacon 4 - Home at last! Well I need to set the record straight here because it’s just not fair. John has been portrayed as a vicious, murderous individual who’s only crime was to rid the Earth of useless, hopeless and above all no talent whatsoever in the preparation and driving skill of the humble slot car. It was reported by the Advertiser that literally thousands and thousands of slot car...Continue reading

21.01.2022 This week "Vintage Racer" introduces us to an Adelaide legend and we apologise in advance to the Brit's who may read this post.. The Legend - John Bacon Part I Now before I start this story - it was his memory from many years ago and this is also my memory from many years ago so if its not quite accurate then please contact me with your exact address and time you will be home, with no risk to your family members and I will visit you, but not knocking on the door as I shoot a...Continue reading

20.01.2022 This weeks SHOW AND TELL is the final write up on John Bacon by Vintage Racer. .John Bacon 5. The Final Chapter. Well the track was built and the numbers came. Reminds me of a film - you build it and the numbers will come. I think it was Field of Dreams with whats his face the guy in Water World - probably should have been executed for that effort but his adoring lady fans (and maybe a few guys) saved him from the CHOP....Continue reading

20.01.2022 If you haven't been on our web site or received our newsletter on Wednesday here are the 5 x Scalextric Australian Limited releases for 2021! There is also an Australian exclusive ready to run set with a couple of Australian cars. As usual full details are on our web site.

19.01.2022 Part 8 of SHOW AND TELL from Vintage Racer looks at the End of an Era. Towards the end of the 60’s and very early 70’s the smaller raceways around Adelaide were struggling to make a buck. Where every suburb in Adelaide had a slot car raceway and some more than one in the mid sixties by the early 70’s the raceways were closing up at a fast rate. My home track at Glynburn Raceway had changed hands and Nosey (please don’t otherwise there will be body bags coming out of the gr...Continue reading

19.01.2022 For this weeks SHOW AND TELL we head across the ditch (NZ for those not familiar with the local lingo) and hand it over to Larry. As always we are so impressed with the workmanship of our customers. Here are some photos of my track. The Brock car, Perkins car and Reynolds car are all modified Scalextric cars.... The two early Holden's were old Vauxhalls. I molded the front spoilers and the Perkins car was built in the early 80's so the rear wing had to be made as well. There were no decal sets so they were made with letter sets. The Brock car was finally finished more recently and the decals were from Pattos Place over there. The Penrite car is still to be finished. See more

19.01.2022 Just a quick SHOW AND TELL this week - as anyone in retail knows how crazy this time of year is. One of our customers sent us this image of the Policar Subaru Championship being held in the Gold Coast region of Queensland. He told us that these cars were the closest racing and championship that he has ever seen. We were really impressed how these road cars came up after adding some decals to them. At $39/$44 a car these are great value and no wonder Policar have sold out in only a few months, but the great news is they will be available again in 2021.

19.01.2022 This weeks SHOW AND TELL comes from North Queensland and in this case whilst there is not a lot in the text, the pictures do the talking. 2.4m x 5m long 2 winches lift track to roof when not in use Has resin for creek timber frame and fiberglass hills with 1:32 scale diecast cars and car trailers

15.01.2022 We will start this weeks SHOW & TELL just confirming the statement that a man is not dead until he is forgotten. Last week Vinny (not his real name, AKA Vintage Racer) started his story about John Bacon. We received feedback about John from our customers so we thank Vintage Racer for sharing his memories about John. For those who did not read last weeks story - we are reflecting back about 50 years ago. Slot Car Story 12 by Vintage Racer . The Legend - John Bacon part 2....Continue reading

15.01.2022 If you are like us you will really enjoy this weeks SHOW AND TELL as we get to see scratch built cars in 1:24 scale - we say more room for more detail. We hand it over to Kym. I have been building and playing with slot cars since I was about 11 years old. I would go with my older brothers back in the 60s. I got back into 1/32 in the late 70s and again around 2000. Then in around 2004 started going to an old 8 lane track where they mainly ran vintage 1/24th cars.... Unfortunately due to changing conditions and Covid stopped going there early this year. So when the opportunity to get a nice little 4 lane track I jumped at it and now I am mainly running 1/32 again. Here are some of the builds I have done in 1/24th. (We, Armchair, will post more next week)

12.01.2022 A while ago we told you that the current owner of the Brian Foley Chesterfield Porsche purchased one of the Fly models from us. We got him to send us these wonderful photo's and we asked him a little about the car as the last image we saw of it was when it was yellow. He told us:... Yes the car was found as crashed by John Harvey in 1974 in the green and yellow livery of Reg Mort. Needing major restoration we decided to restore it to the original Chesterfield configuration as it was very visible at the time in Touring Cars. We also asked him about the truck and he told us: The truck is not the original but based on a 1969 Toyota Dyna as was the original. For more history on the Porsche go to: https://www.porschemelbourne.com.au//Foley%20Porsche%20Sto

12.01.2022 As we received quite a bit of feedback from the track we featured in our SHOW AND TELL segment on 5 February this week we are showing you some detailed images of the track. Enjoy!

10.01.2022 This weeks SHOW AND TELL comes from the LeMay Car Museum in Washington, USA. The track has been produced by Slot Mods who manufacture tracks to die for. This layout is 6m x 3.6m - enjoy the detail.

10.01.2022 SHOW AND TELL this week is a teaser from Vintage Racer - we can't wait for next week either. Well as I said last week not sure on what to come up with this week and with having to go into hiding as Rod (not his real name) has threatened to sever all my body parts and on top of that with a breakin all my Bazooka shells have been stolen as well. Putting two and two together I reckon Rod’s more than likely to blow me away so I will be keeping it short story wise this week until... I get into my Safe House where I can do some more research into an absolute legend and the most gifted slot car builder and scenery builder in my lifetime, that’s for sure. So for this week I apologise for lack of story content but check out the few teaser pictures and a great story next week with what it was like to race back in the late 50’s and very early 60’s - boy you youngsters out there don’t know how easy you have got it racing slot cars today . See the following pictures of handmade scenery, buildings and people all created by one man - amazing talent and his story next week (that’s unless Rod found me at the Safe House). See you. then hopefully !!! See more

09.01.2022 This weeks SHOW AND TELL is part 2 of Slot Cars and Life from one of our customers. We hand it over to Andy: I love acquiring and making slot cars which have not been made by well-known producers. Interesting and unique slot cars that I have purchased include the Alfa Romeo 33-2 Periopsca by Cursa Models of Spain, an Alfa Romeo 33-2 and Matra 630 by RAC from Argentina, a Fiat Abarth 2000 by Nonno Slot of Italy and a Chaparral 2J by GC Slotcars in the USA. Le Mans Miniatures ...make some stunning models such as the only version of the Audi R15 TDI that won the 24 hour race in 2010. I try and make them into decent track cars but the weight and somewhat bizarre chassis design of the earlier models, makes this hard. I am not a voyeur that appreciates shelf models or collecting just for the sake of it. Making my own slot cars is something I love and this was therapeutic to my recovery from brain surgery 15 years ago and from an unexpected stroke earlier this year, coupled with the 2nd lockdown in Victoria. My favourite donor chassis is the Slot.it HRS 2 or for earlier model cars, where performance is of less of an issue, the Pendle Slot Racing chassis (PCS 32) from the UK. I use a variety of bodies including those from Slot.It and Policar, old gems purchased on eBay and the superb clear plastic bodies (and complete cars, decals, chassis and all other parts) made by Milan Tomasek in Slovakia (MTR 32). Bruce Patto (Patto’s Place, NSW) makes a huge range of clear plastic bodies and decals that is unsurpassed in its extent and frequently updated. For classic sports car and some F1 bodies in resin, you cannot go past George Turner Models in the UK. Betta and Classic (UK) make fibreglass body shells of numerous racing cars from the 1930’s to the 1980’s. Building and racing 1/32 slot cars has been an integral part of the various stages of my life. Like yoga, mindfulness, sport and other hobbies, it has been there for me, especially at times of mental stress. However, recent retirement and health issues mean that I am selling a significant part of my large slot car collection, including new boxed cars or lightly used and tuned cars. If you are genuinely interested, please contact me (Armchair Racer will provide you with my email address)

06.01.2022 Part 9 of our SHOW AND TELL from Vintage Racer - Home Track Racing. Fast Forward to 1975. It’s like a scene straight out of Planet of the Apes. All Commercial Slot Car Raceways have closed, cast into oblivion , buildings bulldozed (Sheltons Raceway building was actually razed to the ground with only one track getting out in time the other two demolished), ruins everywhere in every suburb, owners going bankrupt or hiding out from the law to escape their debts. The Ape Co...Continue reading

05.01.2022 Heck - there is so much going on nearly forgot to post our SHOW AND TELL for the week! We are continuing with Kym's 1:24 collection from last week. First up he shows us his 1/24 Salt Lake Racer. Wheels made by his friend (not Russkit) with Kym's steering front end. The final image are other builds and restorations.

05.01.2022 You may recall last week we showed you an image of the cars from a Policar Championship held in Queensland. There was feedback about the track, which we followed up on, so for this weeks SHOW AND TELL we hand it over to the track owner, Peter. Dodge Valley Motorplex first came into creation when my good friend Kym V - Kym's Speed Shop (see Facebook post 26 Nov & 3 Dec - what a bizzare coincidence as we - Armchair Racer - had no idea Peter and Kym knew each other as they live... at opposite parts in Australia) in SA bought me a second hand Carrera track for my birthday in June 2019 and because of it's size he said he would deliver it when he was next coming to QLD. So on catching up at the drags in Sydney in September 2019 he then followed me home to QLD for a catch up holiday and gave me my first slot car track since I was a youngster (am now 61). He went on to explain Carrera track would be the best for me here due to the humidity and would require little maintenance and also I could build it up to as many as 8 lanes. The cogs started turning so the first thing I did was to keep my eyes open for second hand tracks at a cheap price and also find a local slot car club to go race at. I found a couple and all the guys were very welcoming and helpful and got me racing. Jump forward to the start of the pandemic and the tracks closed so I began to build mine. It took about three months until we could race on it although not finished I did have 4 complete lanes measuring 25.63 meters and as restrictions eased off so Dodge Valley Motorplex was born. The other 2 tracks on the coast have now closed permanently so thankfully we now have somewhere to go and enjoy quiet a few different classes of racing and if you haven't guessed I'm a huge mopar fan and drag race (full size) as well as building cars for a living. See more

04.01.2022 This weeks SHOW & TELL we look at one persons link with this hobby. We hand it over to Paul: It would have been Christmas about 1969 when I got my first Scalextric set, but it was when we bought a set for my son some 12 or 13 years ago that I became hooked again. I had always also been a keen scale modeler and when I came across the resin kits on the web I was able to combine two passions. Back in 2009 I had a severe stroke and as time went on I was able to use my hobby of b...uilding the kits as a form of rehab for the fine motor skills. The kids have grown up now and I spend a lot more time in my cave building the models and this is now my obsessive passion. As these models are quite expensive every now and again I put a few up on Ebay as I just want to keep buying more of them all the time. I had the pleasure in 2014 when on a family holiday to the UK to arrange and meet a couple of the people behind the design and creation of these kits. The first person I met was Steve Ward and he was the man behind the Penelope Pitlane range and the second was George Turner from George Turner Models. I had a wonderful couple of hours having a chat and a go on their tracks. The kits they build are kind of like a piece of art in their own right, they are so well designed and made. I am hoping to make it to England again in the not toooo distant future and attend the UK Slot Car Festival and catch up with those I know and put faces to the many names I have dealt with on-line. See more

04.01.2022 For this weeks SHOW AND TELL we are showing you some incredible photo's that one of our customer takes of Scalextric models. In last weeks newsletter we showed you the XB Falcon (we have included it in this post) and this week he sent us Brock's Torana with the Marlboro decals on. We also are including some images he sent us 5 years ago (we get rid of nothing - there is a story behind if you want to know) of the stands he shoots the cars on.

03.01.2022 This weeks SHOW AND TELL is a slight deviation to the current story we have been running on John Bacon from Vintage Racer - you can read the reason for this deviation in our weekly Friday newsletter if you are interested. We thought we would let you see some brilliant scratch building work, so we hand it to Mark to tell us about his JAIL BUS. It’s a 1/32 Isuzu Bonnet bus I was going to build as a static but thought I haven’t seen any buses running on tracks and wanted my inte...rpretation of a State Penitentiary bus. My brass chassis isn’t the neatest, but very effective. Then fitted the axles and Plafit wheels and tyres you supplied, along with the Sloting motor. I just glued pieces of cut up thongs onto the bus body, glued thinner rubber over the chassis holes, and screwed through to the mounts. This always gives a good fixture, but simple. 2 coats of flat yellow over undercoat, rub back lightly, then created a rust effect. Prisoners and seats inside were slightly modified to fit. Runs extremely well on track, and quick.

02.01.2022 We are having issues opening Facebook messages. Until it is sorted please do not correspond to us via Facebook, but rather directly via our website or email addresses. Thank you.

02.01.2022 This is the eye candy we often see on the drive through to the Armchair Racer car park. Now, who knows what the orange car under the Lotus sign is and what slot car manufacturer has produced it?

02.01.2022 Hello 2021! We would like to sincerely like to thank all our customers for your continued support and we are humbled that you have chosen us to support your hobby. Our SHOW AND TELL only exists because of you and to start 2021 we have a two fabulous two part article "Slot cars and life". ...Continue reading